CTNF 18/431,190 CTNF 90030 DETAILED ACTION This action is responsive to the application No. 18/431,190 filed on February 2, 2024. 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Election/Restrictions Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I, Species I, and Modification I, corresponding to claims 1-7 and 9-14 in the reply filed on March 27, 2026, is acknowledged. Claims 8 and 15-20 are withdrawn from consideration. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no burden to examine all claims in the application drawn to the independent or distinct inventions. This is not found persuasive because determining the patentability of divergent subject matter from two different statutory categories of invention is a serious burden. Burden was established in the restriction requirement (pp. 2-5), not only are the different inventions classified differently, the product can be formed by a another and materially different process, and reasons (a)-(e) are provided, consistent with MPEP §808.02. The field of search will be different, the search queries will be different, and the manner in which prior art applies to a product or to a process will be different. Applicant has failed to set forth any evidence establishing the product and process would have the same classification, the same filed of search, or employing the same search queries would result in art similarly applicable to each invention. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Information Disclosure Statement Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. The IDS has been considered. Response to Amendment Applicant is reminded when submitting amendments in Patent Center, the amendments must be in all black font. When amendments are submitted in other colors, likely due to the track changes option in MS Word, this prevents our automated OCR tools from recognizing the fonts in different colors (the colored text often becomes distorted and pixelated when scanned). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim s 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Choi et al. (US 2022/0415782) . (Re Claim 11) Choi teaches a semiconductor device comprising (see Figs. 2-3C and supporting text): a substrate (110); a first active pattern and a second active pattern extending in a first horizontal direction on the substrate, the second active pattern spaced apart from the first active pattern in a second horizontal direction different from the first horizontal direction (active patterns FA, Figs. 2-3C); a field insulating layer (112) surrounding sidewalls of each of the first active pattern and the second active pattern on the substrate; a gate electrode (GL) extending in the second horizontal direction on the first active pattern and the second active pattern; a gate spacer (120) extending in the second horizontal direction on both sidewalls of the gate electrode in the first horizontal direction; a first source/drain region on one side of the gate electrode on the first active pattern (SD); a second source/drain region on one side of the gate electrode on the second active pattern (the SD on the other side of the gate); an etch stopper layer (121) on sidewalls of each of the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region in the second horizontal direction, sidewalls of the gate spacer and a top surface of the field insulating layer (Fig. 3C); a first source/drain contact (CA) extending in the second horizontal direction on the first source/drain region, the first source/drain contact connected to the first source/drain region (Fig. 3C); a second source/drain contact (the other CA) extending in the second horizontal direction on the second source/drain region, the second source/drain contact connected to the second source/drain region, the second source/drain contact spaced apart from the first source/drain contact in the second horizontal direction (Fig. 3A); a contact separation layer separating the first source/drain contact and the second source/drain contact, the contact separation layer including a first portion between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region, and a second portion on the first portion between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region, wherein a width of the first portion of the contact separation layer in the second horizontal direction is greater than a width of the second portion of the contact separation layer in the second horizontal direction (see Fig. 3C, contact separation layer 128, or alternatively 128+middle 126 (for claims 5 and 9), between the two contacts 156, the bottom portion wider than the top portion); and a liner layer between the etch stopper layer and sidewalls of the second portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction (Fig. 3C: liner is 150 and at the outer left/right sides of CA, in a direction towards the centerline of the figure, the layer/feature sequence is: etch stop 121, then liner 150, then in the middle, the sidewalls of the second portion of the contact separation layer 128). (Re Claim 12) wherein a width of the first portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction is greater than a width of the second portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction (Fig. 3C). (Re Claim 13) wherein a top surface of the liner layer is on a same plane as a top surface of the second portion of the contact separation layer (Fig. 3C). (Re Claim 14) wherein the liner layer includes a different material from the contact separation layer (¶¶47, 52, 150: SiCN, SiCON, SiN, 128: silicon oxide) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 Claim s 1-10 are allowed. Claim 8, requiring all of the limitations of allowable claims 1 and 4 is rejoined. Claim 1 is allowable for at least the reasons of “…a width of the first portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction is greater than a width of the second portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction”, as set forth in the claimed combination. This feature of the device of claim 1 is not anticipated or rendered obvious by the prior art known to the Examiner. Claims 2-10 depend from claim 1 and are allowable for at least these reasons. With respect to claim 1, the closest prior art is from Choi et al. (US 2022/0415782), Kim et al. (US 2021/0075406), and Lee et al. (US 2022/0115506), however none of the closest prior art provides the required cross section in the first direction in the contact separation region, therefore none of the closest prior art teach a width of the first portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction is greater than a width of the second portion of the contact separation layer in the first horizontal direction as required in claim 1. For example, Choi teaches a semiconductor device comprising (see Figs. 2-3C): a substrate (110), a first active pattern and a second active pattern extending in a first horizontal direction on the substrate, and the second active pattern spaced apart from the first active pattern in a second horizontal direction different from the first horizontal direction (active patterns FA, Figs. 2-3C), a gate electrode extending in the second horizontal direction on the first active pattern and the second active pattern (gates GL), a first source/drain region on one side of the gate electrode on the first active pattern (source/drain region SD on one side of the gate), a second source/drain region on one side of the gate electrode on the second active pattern (source/drain region SD on the other side of the gate), a first source/drain contact extending in the second horizontal direction on the first source/drain region, the first source/drain contact connected to the first source/drain region (first contact is one of CA: 156+154), a second source/drain contact extending in the second horizontal direction on the second source/drain region, the second source/drain contact connected to the second source/drain region, the second source/drain contact spaced apart from the first source/drain contact in the second horizontal direction (second CA on other side of gate and spaced apart from the first 156); and a contact separation layer separating the first source/drain contact and the second source/drain contact, the contact separation layer including a first portion between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region, and a second portion on the first portion between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region, wherein (see Fig. 3C, contact separation layer 128, or alternatively 128+middle 126, between the two contacts 156, the bottom portion wider than the top portion). Kim (Figs. 1-7C) and Lee (Figs. 3-20) similarly apply, however none of the prior art provide the required cross section which would (or would not) show the required difference in widths in the first direction as claimed, thus none of the prior teach the width difference in the first direction according to claim 1. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional cited art teaches source/drain contact separation features in related devices . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIK T. K. PETERSON whose telephone number is (571)272-3997. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-5 pm (CST). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Manno can be reached at 571-272-2339. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ERIK T. K. PETERSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 2 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 3 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 4 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 5 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 6 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 7 Art Unit: 2898 Application/Control Number: 18/431,190 Page 8 Art Unit: 2898
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